(CNN) Welcome to the Sunday playlist, where we present a selection of sounds and stories we listen to.

Of course the senseless killings in Newtown, Connecticut have dominated our world these past two days. That's why we want to share this short clip from "Marketplace" where host Kai Ryssdal realizes that there are more places in the U.S. to buy guns than there are Starbucks in the world. It was the final note of his Friday program. That will also be the final note for this post on the subject.

Let's not forget, this is the holiday season and Deutsche Welle English has this wonderful story about Christmas in Japan. It is a unique perspective from a country where only a half of one percent of people are Christian. Christmas in Japan is mostly about romantic images, much like Valentines. Listen for the Christmas carols sung in Japanese.

And finally, this month KQED in Northern California teamed up with Stanford University to find a California accent. Listeners called in to talk about what they think a California accent sounds like.